Charging-lorry.



S. B. RUSSELL. CHARGING'LORRY. APPUcATloN FILED Algazzflsxs.

Patented July 24, 191?.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I s. B. RUSSELL; CHARGING LOBBY.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.22. I9I6- y Patented-'July 24, 1917.

2 SHEETS-,SHEET 2.

srarns narrar ernten SILAS B. RUSSELL, OF ST. LOIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO PARKER-RUSSELL MINING- @a MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF S'I'. LOUIS, lHISSOURI, A CORPORATION 0F MIS- SOURI.

CHARGING-LORRY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2d, 1l9l'7.,

T0 all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it lrnown that I, Sinus BENT RussnLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in harging-Iiorries, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

lhis invention relates to charging lorries such as are used for introducing coal into inclined retorts.

rIhe main object of my invention is to provide a charging lorry that can be used for introducing coal into any one of a nurnber of tiers of retorts, thus overcoming the necessity of using a separate lorry for each tier of retorts. rlo this end I have devised a charging lorry that comprises a chute equipped with a plurality of discharge spouts arranged at different levels or in different horizontal planes and means under control of the operator in charge of the lorry for causing coal to be discharged from any one of said spouts.

Another obj ect of my invention is to pro vide a charging lorry of the character referred to that is equipped with movable spouts and means of novel construction for actuating said spouts so as to project them into the mouths of the retorts and withdraw them from the retorts. Other objects and desirable features of my invention will be hereinafter pointed out.

Figure l of the drawings is a side elevational view of a charging lorry constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view of same; and

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of a portion of the chute, illustrating the construction of one of the deflectors that is arranged inside of the chute.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, A designates inclined retorts that are arranged in different horizontal planes, so as to form a plurality of tiers of retorts, B designates a floor located at the rear of the retorts on which the operator in charge of my improved lorry stands, and C designates a truck that travels on an overhead track at the rear of the retorts. The truck C is provided with a weighing hopper D, of any preferred construction, thatis equipped with a depending chute E, and said chute is provided with a plurality of discharge spouts l, 2 and 3 that are arranged at different levels or in different horizontal planes and in such positions with relation to the retorts A that coal can be discharged from the spout l into the retorts of the top tier, from the spout 2 into the reto-rts of the in* termediate tier and from the spout 3 into the retorts of the bottom tier. 'Ihe lorry is provided with means for enabling coal to be discharged from only one of the spouts at a time, and in the preferred form of my invention, as herein shown, said means consists of a pair of deectors F and G arranged inside of the chute E in such. a manner that the deflector F can either be posi tioned transversely of the chute to deflect the coal into the spout l, or can be arranged vertically in the chute to act as a closure for said spout, and the deector G can either be arranged transversely of the chute to deiiect the coal through the spout 2, or can be arranged vertically in the chute, so as to form a closure for the spout 2, and thus prevent the coal from escaping through said spout. When both of the deflectors F and G are arranged in a vertical position in the chute the coal will have an unobstructed passage through the chute, and consequently, can escape from the bot-tom spout 3.

The deflectors F and Gr can be constructed in various ways without departing from the spirit of my invention, and any suitable means may be employed for moving said deflectors from one position to another. I prefer, however, to form each deflector from a piece of sheet metal that is reinforced and strengthened by angle irons 4L, as shown in Fig. 3, and pivotally connect the lower end of the deliector to a horizontally-disposed rod 5 that is supported by the side walls of the chute E at a point adjacent the front wall of the chute and in proximity to the rear end of the bottom of the particular spout with which the deflector cooperates, so that when the deflector is operative, or in other words, is arranged in an inclined position, as shown in Fig. 3, it will virtually form a continuation of the bottom of its coperating discharge spout. The deflectors can be moved independently of each other and in the form of my invention herein shown each deiiector is provided with an operating shaft 6 arranged at the rear of the chute E and connected by links 7 to the outer ends of a transverselydisposed rod 8 on the deflector that projects through slots 9 in the side walls of the chute. The operating shaft 6 is also connected by means of rlinks 10 to the shaft 5 on which the deflector is pivotally mounted and both sets of links 7 and 10 are arranged on the outside of the chute E, as shown in Fig. 1, of the drawings. When the deiiectors are arranged in a vertical position parallel to the front wall of the chuteE they effectively prevent the coal from escaping through the discharge spouts with which y they cooperate, and at such times the defiectors are securely locked in position by means of hooks or dogs 11 on the rear-*wall of the chute E that cooperate with the shafts 6, as shown in Fig. 1, which illustrates the upperl deiiector F arranged in its vertical oosition.

It is, of course, immaterial, so far as my broad idea is concerned, how the chute E is constructed, butl prefer to form said kchute from pieces of sheet metal that are connected to an angle iron frame 12, the discharge spouts 1, 2 and 3 being integrally connected to the chute E, and the bottoms of the spouts 1 and 2 projecting into the interior of the chute and terminating at the shafts 5, so as to prevent an open space from being formed at the points where the deflectors merge into the spouts 1 and 2. The bottom of the spout 3 merges into the bottom H of the chute, which is arranged in an inclined position, as shown in F ig. 1, so as to insure the coal being deflected into the spout 3 whenit reaches the lower end of the chute.

Inorder that the discharge spouts may be introduced into the mouths of the retort's,

during the operation of charging the retortsy with coal, l have provided the chute E with movable spouts 1a, 2a and 3'al that form continuations of the stationary spouts 1, 2 and 3 when said movable spouts are in their operative positions, said movable spouts being normally arranged underneath the stationary spouts on the chute E and rbeing mounted in such a mannerk that they can be shifted easily into and out of operative position. As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, each of said movable spouts is carried by a frame provided with wheels or rollers 13 and 1d that travel on horizontally-disposed track rails 15 secured to the outside of the chute E, said frame being made up of two elbowshaped members 16 connected at their lower ends to the movable spout, side pieces 17 connected to the movable spoutr and to the two arms of the members 16 and vertically-disposed braces 18 connected to the side pieces 17 and `to the members 16, as shown in Fig. 1. The side pieces 17 are arranged in an inclined position, and the upper ends of same are connected togethed by a bar 18a which the operator grasps during the operation of shifting the movable spout into and out of operative position. Each movable spout travels on a separate track, preferably formed of two pieces of angle iron, and the rollers 13 and 14 are so karranged that they lie above and below the horizontal' flanges of the angle irons that constitute the track.

he track rails 15 are provided with stops 19, against which the rollers 13 strike, and thus limit the rearward movement of the movable spout frames, and said track rails are also provided with stops 20 against which the rollers 1d strike, and thus klimit the forward movement of the spout frames.

yframe from moving forwardly accidentally,

and when said frame is in its extreme forward position, the rollers 14C bear against the front ends of said raised portions 21, kand thus prevent the frame from moving rearwardly accidentally. To move one of the spout frames either forwardly or rearwardly it is necessary either to exert con-y siderable pressure on the frame or tilt the frame slightly on the rollers 13 as ay fulcrum, so as to cause the rollers 14C to clear the ends of the raised portions 21 of the track rails, after which the frame can be moved in the desired direction to shift the spout thereon into operative or inoperative position,

rllhe hopper D is provided with a slide valve 2Q, or any other suitable means for controlling the discharge of coal from the hopper into the chute E, and if desired, a slide valve E23, or other suitable controlling device, can be arranged in the upper portion is being used, said slide valves being provided with operating shafts 222L and 23a, respectively, thaty are equipped with pinions which mesh with racks on the valves, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

After the hopper D has been iilled with coal the truck C is moved alongk the overhead track tothe retort that isy to be charged with coal. lf said retort is in the upper tier the delector F is arranged in aninclined position in the chute E and the frame that carries the movable lspout 1- is moved forwardly, so as to bridge the space beinstaat tween the retort and the stationary spout 1, and insert the end of the movable spout 1a into the mouth of the retort. j

lWhen the valve 22is opened the coal in the hopper passes downwardly through the chute E until it strikes the deiiector F, which causes the coal to be deflected laterally through the stationary spout l and the cooperating movable spout 1a into theretort. lf the retort that is to be charged is in the intermediate tier the deflector F is are ranged in a vertical position, so as to close the upper spout 1, the deector Gr is arranged in an inclined position in the chute f and the frame that carries the movable spout 2 is moved forwardly, so as to project said spout into the mouth of the retort. rlhereafter, the valve 22 is opened, so as to cause the coal to be discharged from the hopper into the chute, and thence through the spouts 2 and 22t into the retort. lf the retort to be charged is in the bottom tier the deflectors F and G are both arranged in a vertical position, so as to close the spouts l and 2 and not interfere with the passage of the coal through the chute. 'lhe frame that carries the movable spout 3a is then moved forwardly, and thereafter the valve 22 is opened, so as to permit the coal to escape from the hopper into the chute down which it travels to the spouts 3 and 3a. lf the coal feeds through the chute too rapidly, when the bottom spout is being used, the valve 23, which is considerably lower than the valve 22, can be used to control the feed of the coal through the chute.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a charging lorry of the construction above described overcomes the necessity of using a separate charging lorry for each tier of retorts, consequently, such a lorry reduces the cost of installation and maintenance of an inclined retort charging apparatus; the lorry is so constructed that the operator in charge of same can easily shift the deliectors from one position to another while standing on the :Hoor B and the frames that carry the movable spouts are so constructed that they can be moved easily Vinto and out of operative position, by simply grasping the operating shafts 18a at the rear ends of said frames. When the deflectors F and G are acting as closures for the discharge spouts l and 2, said deflectors are locked securely in position, and when the movable spout frames are in their extreme positions they are held securely against accidental movement by the rollers 1A thereon that bear against the ends of the raised portions 2l on the track rails. lf desired, a stationary deflector c can be arranged inside of the chute E above the deflector F, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, so as to protect the upper edge of the deflector F when it is arranged in its vertical position.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. A charging lorry, comprising a depending chute provided with a plurality of stationary discharge spouts arranged in dierent horizontal planes, a movable spout arranged under each of said discharge spouts and adapted to be moved into position to form a continuation of the spout with which it cooperates, a supporting structure on which said movable spouts can be shifted Ihorizontally into and out of operative position, and means for enabling material that travels through said chute to be discharged therefrom through any one of said spouts at the will of the operator.

2. A charging lorry provided with a chute that is equipped with a rigid discharge spout, a pivot-ally mounted deflector arranged inside of said chute in such a posi'- tion that it forms a continuation of the bottom of' said discharge spout when said deflector is arranged in a certain position, an operating shaft for said deflector, and a pair of links arranged outside of the chute that connect said shaft to said deflector, one of said links being connected to said defiector intermediate the ends thereof.

3. A charging lorry, comprising a chute that is provided with an inclined discharge spout, said chute having elongated slots in the side walls thereof, a shaft extending transversely across said chute adjacent the inner end of said discharge spout, a deflector pivotally mounted on said shaft and provided with a transversely-disposed rod that projects through the elongated slots in the side walls of the chute, an operating shaft, and links that connect said operating shaft to said transversely-disposed rod and to the shaft on which the deflector is pivotally mounted.

ll. A charging lorry, comprising a hopper provided with a depending chute that is equipped with a plurality of stationary discharge spouts arranged in different hori- Zontal planes, horizontally movable spouts Y carried by devices on said stationary spouts and adapted to be shifted into and out of alinement with the front ends of said stationary spouts, and deflectors in said chute that cooperate with certain of said spouts for enabling material that passes through said chute to be discharged from any of said spouts at the will of the operator in charge of the lorry.

5. A charging lorry provided with a chute that is equipped with a plurality of stationary discharge spouts arranged at dierent levels, shiftable deflectors arranged inside of said chute so as to cooperate with certain of said spouts, horizontally movable spouts that are adapted to be moved into and out of operative position with relation to said stationary s'pouts, rollers combined with said movable spouts, and rails on Which said rollers travel. k y

6. A charging lorr7 provided With a chute that is equipped with a stationary discharge spout, a cooperating movable spout, a frame that carries said movable spout7 track rails on said chute, rollers on said frame that travel on said track rails, and raised kportions on said track rails that cooperate With the rollers on said frame to prevent accig dental movement of the frame.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, n

7. A charging lorry, comprising a chute provided With a stationary discharge spout, a cooperating movable spout, a frame that carries said movable spout, track rails on the chute, rollers on said frame that engage the upper andy lower sides of said track rails, and means on said track rails that cooperate with said rollers to limit the forward and rearward movement of said movable chute and to prevent accidental movement of saidy chute.v

SILAS B. RUSSELL.

Washington, D. C. 

